After Joy
by AriSkyWriter
Summary: It had been five years since she had run away.  Five years since he had seen her.  And now, the one thing that forced them apart might just be what draws them back together.  One-shot.


**Alright, here is a new one-shot. This is my first attempt at a sad one-shot, so I am sorry if it is bad. I think that I get way too attached to my characters because I cried over this story.**

**For those of you reading, _It's Always Sonny_, I will try to get a new chapter up by tomorrow evening. **

**As always: I do not, nor have I ever, owned Sonny with a Chance.**

Sonny Monroe stood in front of the mirror in her hotel room. She carefully adjusted the blonde wig, then stood back to get a better look at herself. There was no admiration in her eyes- no trace of the sparkle that had once lived there. That had died five years ago with Joy.

A tear trickled down her cheek, but she didn't bother to wipe it away. She was used to tears. Thousands of tears had trailed down her cheeks over the last five years. They had been her nightly companions when she felt lost and alone, missing her baby girl- and Chad.

More tears began to flow at the memories of her blonde-haired love. She had to run to the bathroom for a tissue. It had been years since she had allowed herself to think of him, but today, she let the tears flow and remembered. Somehow, she actually found herself missing him. The memories hurt just as bad as ever, but she actually felt like remembering,

_Their wedding day had been perfect. Sonny had talked Chad into getting married back in Wisconsin. She wanted all of her friends to be in attendance, and she wanted a private wedding, without the media there to take away from the moment. Chad had just wanted Sonny to be happy, so he agreed to get married at a little country church outside Sonny's hometown._

_She had felt like a princess that day in her long, white dress. Mom had curled her hair, and Chad's grandmother had given Sonny the pearls that she had worn on her own wedding. Sonny had smiled all the way through the entire service as she became Mrs. Chad Dylan Cooper._

_Just two months after their wedding, the newlyweds had been shocked to discover that they were going to be parents. The shock soon gave way joy, however, and they threw themselves into preparations. Sonny had even learned how to knit in order to make a blanket for their baby._

_Joy Allison Cooper had arrived at two in the morning on her father's twenty-fifth birthday. Once her overjoyed parents had her alone, they examined her. Their excitement over her ten, perfect little toes and beautiful eyes could be heard down the hallway and caused all the nurses to smile._

_But the happiness didn't last long. Just three months after little Joy was born, she had been taken from them. Sonny had been driving home from the store when a truck had run a red light and slammed into the side of her car. She slipped into a coma and little Joy had been killed._

_When Sonny awoke two weeks later, she found herself lying in a hospital bed with a broken collarbone, several broken ribs, and no recollection of what had happened. Chad had been the one to tell her about the accident and the death of their daughter. That had been the first time that Sonny had cried herself to sleep._

_The next couple of months had been torture. The media hounded their house, wanting to know how the couple was dealing with their loss. Sonny had blamed the accident- and their daughter's death- on herself. After all, she had been the one driving. The guilt overwhelmed her every time that she looked at Chad. She could see the pain in his eyes. Eventually, she had packed her bags and left LA, without telling anyone where she was headed._

Sonny slammed her palms on the bathroom counter and willed herself to stop remembering. She still loved Chad as much as she had the day that she left. More than anything, she wanted to see him again, but she reminded herself that it was for his own good that she had left.

Tears continued to roll down her cheeks as she swallowed a sob. She turned on the faucet and began to splash cold water on her face. By the time she dried her face on one of the scratchy hotel towels, Sonny had managed to pull herself together.

She checked the wig one last time, then put on a pair of black sunglasses. There was no way that she wanted the media to know that she was back in LA. Today would have been her daughter's fifth birthday, and Sonny was going to visit her grave for the first time.

* * *

Chad Dylan Cooper stepped out of his sedan and into the bright sunlight. He struggled to put his sunglasses on without dropping the flowers in his left hand. Once he had successfully put them on, he shut the door and pressed a button to lock the door.

He sighed heavily and leaned back against the door. Tears were welling up in his eyes and one of his headaches was beginning to form. The last five years had been extremely hard on him. He had lost his daughter in a car accident and almost lost his wife. Then, he had had to try to comfort Sonny while she grieved for their daughter. He had nearly lost all will to live when she had left him.

He had even considered ending it all, but the drive to find Sonny had kept him going. For five years, he had been searching for her. Unfortunately, not of his leads had followed through. It was as if Sonny Monroe Cooper had disappeared from the face of the earth. He hoped that she was still alive.

He managed to pull himself together, then slowly made his way across the cemetery to his daughter's grave. Today, he had decided to take a break from searching for her. He had felt the need to visit his daughter's grave on this, her fifth birthday. It didn't even register that it was his thirtieth birthday. He had long ceased thinking of the day as his birthday and only remembered it as Joy's day.

The sight of a blonde-haired woman sitting in front of Joy's grave caused him to stop suddenly. She appeared to be crying, and one hand rested on the headstone. Chad frowned and wondered who else had come to visit his daughter on her birthday.

There was something familiar about the woman. She almost reminded him of- Chad's eyes widened at the thought. He dropped the flowers and ran towards the woman. The sound of her voice caused him to stop a few feet behind her. He realized that he didn't want to startle her.

"Oh Joy! My poor little baby!" A sob slipped from her lips, and she lifted a hand to wipe away some tears. Chad took a small step forward. "I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry!" She stopped talking and lifted both hands to cover her face as loud sobs began to shake her body.

Chad reached up to wipe the tears from his face. He covered the distance between them and carefully sat down next to Sonny. He put both arms around his wife and pulled her close against him. She moved her head and buried it against his shirt.

They sat their together, sharing in their grief. After awhile, Sonny sat up. She turned her head to look at the man sitting next to her. Neither of them spoke as she reached up a hand to touch his face. He closed his eyes and relished her touch. Nothing had ever felt as good as her hand on his cheek. Chad reached out and brushed some of the blonde hair from her face.

"Is it really you?" Chad still couldn't believe that he had found her. She slowly reached up and removed the blonde wig, allowing her brown hair to come tumbling down around her face. She looked so lost and innocent that Chad reached out and pulled her back into his arms. She responded by throwing both her arms around him.

"Oh, Chad! I had hoped that you would be here." He kissed the top of her head and whispered against her hair,

"I am always here for you, Sonny."

**So what did you think? Please review and let me know. I love getting input! :D**


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